A Stone Just Chipped Your Windshield: The First Two Days

Right away: keep it clean and dry

A fresh chip is open to the air. Dirt, washer fluid and water work into it, and a chip full of grime does not take resin as well. As soon as you can safely stop, put a piece of clear tape over it from the outside. It is not a repair, only a cover, but it keeps the break clean until someone can look at it.

Then note where it is. A chip in the middle of the passenger side is a different case from one right in front of the driver, at the edge of the glass, or in the patch behind the mirror where the forward camera looks out.

The first day: go easy on temperature

What turns a chip into a crack is usually stress in the glass, and the quickest way to add stress is a sudden change in temperature. On a cold morning, do not blast hot air from the defroster at a chilled windshield. On a hot afternoon, do not aim the air conditioning at glass that has been baking in a car park. Let the cabin change temperature gradually.

• Avoid the car wash until the chip is dealt with: high-pressure water and hot rinse cycles do it no good.
• Close the doors gently. A slammed door flexes the body and pushes air against the glass.
• Steer around potholes where you can; a hard jolt can start a crack running.
• Keep your distance from trucks, especially ones carrying gravel, so a second stone does not land in the same place.

Within two days: get it looked at

Chip repair suits small, fresh damage. Impex Auto Glass’s rule is that repair may be possible when the damage is small, shallow and away from the edges, and it treats a chip smaller than a quarter as a small chip. The industry standard for repair, ROLAGS, goes further, treating stone breaks up to two inches across and single line cracks up to 14 inches as repairable. Most shops stay well inside that limit, and many use a rule of thumb that anything smaller than a dollar bill, about six inches, can probably be repaired.

A repair has real advantages on a modern car. It keeps the original windshield and its factory bond, and because the glass never comes out, the camera behind the mirror keeps its aim and needs no calibration. That is a reason to act quickly rather than waiting to see if the chip spreads.

When the chip has already spread

If the chip has grown a crack, especially one that runs toward the edge or across the driver’s view, the answer is usually a new windshield. Replacement is a bonding job with urethane adhesive, and on cars with lane keeping or automatic braking it is followed by a camera calibration. Our page on windshield replacement in Winston-Salem walks through the whole visit, and ADAS calibration explains the camera step.

Who pays for a rock chip in North Carolina

Almost always, your own insurer under comprehensive coverage. The NC Department of Insurance lists ‘Missiles or falling objects’ and ‘Breakage of glass’ among comprehensive losses, paid less your deductible. North Carolina has no zero-deductible glass law, so a small repair may cost less than your deductible; it is worth asking the price before you claim.

What about the truck? North Carolina law, G.S. 20-116(g), requires trucks over 7,500 pounds carrying rock, gravel or stone to keep the load six inches below the sides and to cover it with a tarp or similar. In practice it is very hard to prove which truck threw a particular stone, or that its load broke the rule, so most drivers claim under their own policy. A comprehensive glass claim is not an at-fault accident and adds no Safe Driver Incentive Plan points, though insurers may look at how often you file claims.

Whichever way you pay, under G.S. 58-3-180 you choose who does the work.

Getting it done without losing a day

A chip repair or a windshield replacement can be done where the car is parked, at home or at work. The mobile auto glass repair page explains what the spot needs. Drivers south of the city on I-285 can see our page on windshield replacement in Lexington.

Questions people ask